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Time to get drawing! The Japanese embassy in the UK has launched another manga contest. This time on the theme of '150'. Entrants must be over fourteen and live in the U.K, the manga must be between six and eight pages. The closing date is the 26 September.
Prizes are as follows:
The amazing First Prize is two (2) return air tickets to Japan, courtesy of All Nippon Airways!

Fans of the graphic novel version of Heroes who can get to London next week will want to head to Orbital Manga, just in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, where they'll be having a signing with graphic artist Jason Badower.

Some anime and manga fans in the UK might have heard about the new proposals which would ban obscene images of children. The proposals mainly cover drawings and computer-generated images, however due to certain parts of the proposals being a bit vague, it's not exactly certain what images are classed as obscene. The mainstream press are keen to wrongly cite manga as one such example.

Mother Cafe is in the new Mandarake outlet in Osaka (Mandarake are a chain of shops for anime and manga fans, and are evil as they are often packed full of delights to tempt otaku). Apparently the maids take on a maternal air, as they greet guests in motherly tones. Staff's age range from 19 to in their 40's, and they look older than they actually are. The aim is to become a therapeutic cafe, where people can open their hearts to the staff.

We've received a press release from PiQ LLC, the magazine which is essentially the replacement for NewType USA. The magazine is due out from March 14th 2008. Issue 1 will feature articles about Appleseed: Ex Machina, Code Geass and xxxHOLiC.

Today the UK's largest group of manga-style pioneers, Sweatdrop Studios turned six years old! And to celebrate, they're offering some of the biggest discounts off their catalogue and a few more bonuses:

- Huge 50% off comics until February 2008
- Free international shipping on orders over £15/$30

Those intending to buy the latest volume of The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga, might want to turn up at the Orbital Manga store on 23rd February. Four of the artists featured in the book Karen Rubins, Chie Kutsuwada, Nana Li and John A Short will be present.

There will also be a chance to get signed illustrations from the artists themselves, as well as an art competition!

Plus they’ll be launching Library Editions of popular titles, these hard cover versions will be the first volumes of successful manga series including Bleach, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha, Naruto and Ranma ½, and are intended to be a bit more rugged to withstand long term library use.

This months (November 2007) issue of Wired Magazine has an excellent feature called Japan Ink about the manga industry, the impact dojinshi has on the copyright of manga and how an unspoken agreement benefits fans and companies alike, suggesting that the model can be spread out to other media industries like the music biz.

Wired have also made manga their cover feature for this month and have produced an article in manga format about the history of manga in America, although it's very biased towards Viz, being written by a former Viz senior editor, it practically ignores the fact fandom exists.

Anime Insider, the anime and manga oriented spin-off of Wizard, has just reached its 50th issue! And they're going all out to celebrate. In addition to their regular monthly features (including articles about the new season of Black Lagoon and the upcoming Pumpkin Scissors), the commemorative issue sports a ranking of the 50 best anime ever (check to see where and if your favorite title made the list), and a cover featuring two of the beauties of Evangelion, pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu offering a special cake.

Anime Insider is also offering their biggest contest to date with this issue. For a huge grand prize of a pack of anime goodies worth over $1500, all you have to do is write a haiku. That's right, the Japanese-style poem of three lines and 17 syllables (5, 7, 5). The poem can be about the magazine, fandom, giant robots, or your favorite character. Winners will be chosen from each category, with one grand prize winner for the big one. Grab a copy of the magazine for rules and entry form. And also enjoy the magazine in general.

The Times on-line are currently running an article written by Paul Gravett, about how manga is conquering Britain. It focuses on how groups outside of Japan are creating works in a manga style and calling it manga (in a subject frequently debated by fans, if the artist isn't Japanese does that make it manga). The article also mentions up and coming Sweatdrop Studios and how manga style artwork is increasingly being produced in the UK. The article mentions a few titles, but it is rather short on sales figures, so it's hard to measure how successful the local publications are.

UK fans of Ghost in The Shell will be pleased to hear the details Titan Books have sent us about the release of Ghost In the Shell 1.5 Human-Error Processor. The manga is due out in the UK on 23rd November 2007. It bridges the gap between the Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 manga (hence the 1.5 name). We've been waiting for this to come out as one book ever since we heard about it and highly recommend it to Ghost in the Shell fans.

The Sweatdrop crew have always been inventive with the titles they've released and they've sent us details for some titles due in April 2008 and June 2008 (that's a while away isn't it? We don't normally get details for titles that are 6 months ahead anyway...).

All the lovely artwork will be done by Sonia Leong, and we'll be curious to see how they do this.

Will they have an otaku take on things? Eg: Sort out your money - buy less DVDs and manga to save money. Beauty secrets for babes - wear cat ears. Be creative - draw more stuff. Find true love - ermmm, otaku aren't exactly good at that, erm, join a relatives house which happens to be populated by lots of hot babes and enjoy the hilarity that ensues.

According to BBC News, Mr Aso is a big promoter of manga abroad. They cite the rise of manga publisher Broccoli gaining 71% and Mandarake (a retail store in Japan which is a treasure trove for otaku), jumping 13%.

The article states that Mr Aso served as foreign minister, and suggested that embracing Japanese pop culture was an important step in cultivating ties with other countries. If this is the case the Otaku News crew would like an invite to Japan to meet with Mr Aso to help promote manga and anime. ^_-

Sadly the BBC gets some facts wrong about anime and manga stating that they have "psychedelic colours and outlandish story lines", and emphasises the more explicit side of anime and manga. They also manage to mention Spirited Away and Quentin Tarantino in the same sentence, which I'm sure can lead to all sorts of associations for those who haven't actually seen the wonderful family film that is Spirited Away.

The article also states that Mr Aso created an International Manga Award to honour non-Japanese cartoonists.

Hooray it seems to be the season to rescue manga I wanted to buy from rights hell. Viz announced at Comic-con that it will be publishing basket ball classic Slam Dunk. There will be an initial preview in Shonen Jump before collected volumes in 2008.

The Mainichi Daily News have posted an interesting article about a new manga publication called Comic Yell, Japan's first girl's manga for men. With girly titles like Honey and Clover and Nana proving to be popular with male readers and 50% of Shonen Jump's readership being female, it shows people are attracted to good stories, regardless of it's intended target gender.

Targeted at men from their 20s to 40s, the magazine doesn't have girls in maid's outfits or girls wearing animal ears. There is however the occasional panty shot to keep the male reader happy.

Feedback has been mixed, with hardcore otaku readers wanting more "zing", and mainstream readers happy that it isn't pandering to hardcore otaku tastes. Some readers have even requested that it made more girly. The official Comic Yell Website can be found here.

UK publisher Titan Books have sent us details about the UK release of the Akira Club artbook. It's one of those nice additions for fans of the movie and manga collection. It's due to hit the shelves on the 27th July 2007 and is priced at £24.99. Hunting around Play.com have it on pre-order for £14.99.

No, the hero of the popular manga and anime series isn't going to die in a fiery death. But his fans may want to start saving their money over the summer. Starting this September and through December, VIZ Media plans to release not 1, but 3 new volumes of the Naruto manga a month. With a total of 12 volumes, 16 to 27, that means fans will have 3 years worth of new material in those 4 months, as opposed to simply 1 volume every 3 months as in 2006.

The reason for the boost is to catch the American releases up with their original Japanese counterpart before a new storyarc begins in Volume 28 of the Naruto manga. Set 2 years after the storyline ending in Volume 27, the storyline will focus on an older, wiser and taller Naruto and his new adventures. This move will enable American fans to enjoy the series with a bit of surprise without getting a hold of spoilers from the internet.

The article states: "We have chosen the Manga cartoons for the 2007 campaign, because we hope it will appeal to young people under twenty as well as people in their thirties," Fr. Paul Embery, Director of the National Office for Vocation, explained to the Italian Religious Service.

A new website has been launched too - www.calledtoday.com which features artwork in a manga style and tells the stories of various people dedicated to the church.

The good folks at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing about the groundbreaking artist Hokusai. The book contains lots of lovely selection artwork from Hokusai and is a great example of the variety of work he did. The book is well worth £10, for curiosity or academic interests. It hits the shops on 30th April 2007.

We've got news from Titan Books that they'll be releasing the hugely popular Oh My Goddess! manga in the UK. On April 27th 2007 Volume 1 and 2 should be released. We think it's great that Titan Books are doing this, we just hope they pick up the rights to What's Michael? too.

We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books, detailing the release of MegaTokyo Volume 4 in the UK. Why should we care when volume 5 is almost out in the US and most bookshops stock it volume 4 already? Well this is actually great news as some places like libraries and their book suppliers will only deal with books that have an official UK release. Now that MegaTokyo has an official UK release you should be able to pester your local librarian to get a copy in. ^_- This also applies to the other Titan books we've put press releases up for as they've already had US releases, but would be hard to stock in some places.

We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books. They'll be releasing a new updated edition of the Anime Encyclopedia for the UK on 27th April 2007. This edition has a black cover, along with over 40% new material. The Anime Encyclopedia is a must for otaku, as it's a accurate and well researched guide to the subject unlike a few other books which are nowhere near as good. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy know their stuff and we highly recomend this guide. Hunting around on Amazon.co.uk will produce a bargain price below the suggested retail price. You'll save money by reading about the type of anime you'd want to avoid, but the only trouble is you'd want to watch more of the titles you've discovered by reading it.

Up until now, whenever you wanted to read manga while doing your business in the bathroom, you had to take the actual book and/or magazine with you, then set it somewhere while you got started and finished. You still can do that, but now there's an alternative. At least in Japan, there is, because now manga can now be found on... toilet paper.

Famous 4-panel manga artist and TV talent Yakumi Tsuru recently made a deal with paper goods company Banbix to sell toilet paper that have his manga illustrations and 4-panel comics printed on it. Called Food Toipe, the toilet paper can be purchased in cases of 50 rolls for 8,500 yen (approximately 80 US dollars) from the Banbix website. You can also find images of the paper at the same website. No word, though, as to whether or not the illustrations featured on the paper are new material or reprints of Tsuru's previous work.

Anime fans will be pleased to know that Leicester based UK anime convention AmeCon 2007 is now open for registration. So book now to avoid disappointment. The convention is scheduled for 10th-12th August 2007 and is the third convention held by the AmeCon crew.

We've received a details from publishing house Hodder and Stoughton regarding the Manga Bible. We're not talking about some sort of ultimate must have guide to manga, but the New Testament produced in a manga style. Using the TNIV (Today's New International Version) as the basis, London based artist Siku, who is best know for his work on 2000AD.

Hidden away just around the corner from Leicester Square and short walk from Covent Garden, on Upper Saint Martin's Lane is Orbital Manga, a new little manga shop from the same people behind Orbital Comics on Charing Cross Road. Although Orbital Manga is small, it's worth looking around and is a refreshing change from comic shops that stock some manga. They've got a good range of manga and the usual selection of merchandise and trinkets.

Manga artist Rin Yoshi has been accused of committing plagiarism in the pages of her manga, Switch. According to Umeo Kamitsuo, Editor-in-Chief of Cookie, the manga magazine that serializes Switch, the opening pages of the manga were reproductions of images from the fashion magazine Gravure.

As a result of the accusations, the Switch manga will no longer appear in Cookie as of the April issue. Shueisha, the publisher behind the magazine, has also stopped distribution of Yoshi’s other works, including Kurabeyou mo nai Hodo ni (Uncomparable) and Silent Summer Snow, due to further instances of possible plagiarism. To prevent future incidents from happening, Umeo has stated that Cookie will step up their checks for potential copyright violations and make sure that their staff are aware of the problems associated with such issues.

Random House UK imprint Tanoshimi have sent us some details about a nice fan oriented campaign. From February 7th Fans and vote on their website and select which title they want Tanoshimi to publish next, the people behind Tanoshimi have confirmed that it is likely they will only publish the winning title.

Fans can vote for the following:

Genshiken
Kagetora
Othello
Wallflower

All voters will go into a draw for a chance to win a Nintendo DS Lite.

We've been sent an interesting press release from SelfMadeHero about their Manga Shakespeare series. The bard's classic tales have been reinterpreted into a manga style. With Romeo and Juliet the action has relocated to Shibuya in Tokyo, with yakuza talking the place of the more traditional families in the original. Hamlet is still set in Denmark, but in the future cyber world of 2017. SelfMadeHero inform us that the series keeps true to the text of Shakespeare, but is specially abridged for use in the manga. Sweatdrop Studio's very own Sonia Leong illustrated Romeo and Juliet, while Emma Vicieli illustrated Hamlet.

Both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are due for release on 1st March 2007, priced at £6.99. The Tempest and Richard III are due to be published in Autumn 2007. Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are planned, but no release date is mentioned.

Our readers still in education might want to show this to their English and drama teachers, while our other readers might just enjoy reading a new interpretation of Shakespeare's works.

This is not the first time Hamlet has been made into a manga in English, our good friend Amethyst Angel has done a fan version using characters from Slayers, entitled Hamlet: The Manga.

Tokyo Pop UK's talent hunt Rising Stars of Manga UK and Ireland hasn't been totally smooth sailing; there have been numerous resets of the vote, not to mention the judges decision to eliminate a finalist after announcing their inclusion in the people's choice.

Despite that, all that the winners have been announced. Their work will be included in the RSOM UK Volume 2 book.

For our London readers you might want to visit IMAF, the International Manga and Anime Festival, which opened today at County Hall near the London Eye in Westminster. It's set to run from Friday 10th - Tuesday 14th November 2006.

Opening times vary each day, so be sure to check to avoid dissapointment before going. The event schedule can be found in a 132KB MS Word document (web usability experts scream as it should be in HTML for everyone to read). It includes panels and workshops by author Paul Gravett, artists Sweatdrop Studios, international comic book
creator Ilya and expert on traditonal culture Akemi.

We're aware that many of our readers will at some point try to create their own "manga" and now so are several software publishers who are eager to fill the the gap in the market for Manga creation software. In this review I look at Manga Studio 3.0 Debut and create my own page to see just how useful it actually is.

The nice people from Viz Media have sent us a press release detailing the conclusion of the long running fan favourite manga Ranma 1/2. Volume 36 of the manga ends the series with a letter to North American fans from Rumiko Takahashi, the author of Ranma 1/2 and another huge favourite Inu Yasha. The final volume is due out in North American on November 14th. So now's your chance to say goodbye to everyone's favourite gender changing comedy martial arts manga!

We've received some very last minute details from Letraset about an event they'll be running on Saturday 4th November at London Graphics a huge art supply retailer. We've been told that their Covent Garden store in London will be hosting a manga day with activities and workshops 11.00am to 6pm. The following will be there:

Seven Seas Entertainment will be launching a new publishing imprint for its library of manga titles. Called Strawberry, this new imprint will focus on yuri, or girl-on-girl, flavored romantic titles. The first titles of the new line are expected to be released sometime in 2007.

UK Small press anthology MangaQuake is back for its third issue which contains 56 pages of manga goodness!
Press Release:
"MangaQuake is back for its third issue- and it's better than ever! Featuring a collection of strips for a few familiar names from previous issues, and some truly astonishing brand new talent. With stories of betrayal, inter species romance (...well sort of!) and Norse gods with traffic congestion problems- I think we can genuinely say that this issue, its 56 pages crammed to overflowing with fun and action- has something for everyone! "

Sonia from Sweatdrop Studios the manga styled art group has dropped as a line about their latest publications. The books are supposed to be paired together and explorer the differences between shojo and shonen manga, apparently each book can be enjoyed alone or with it's partner book. The shojo book is called Pink is for Girls, while the shonen book is titled Blue is for Boys. We like the comparison of sparkles versus speedlines in their press release. The book is due for release on Saturday 28th October at the London MCM Expo at the Sweatdrop Studios stand.